Justice A. Obiozor of the Federal High Court in Ikoyi, Lagos on Tuesday ordered the final forfeiture of the sums of N1,260,000,000, $327,132.35, £167.85 and €157.90 recovered by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) to the Federal Government.

The order came following an ex parte application filed by the EFCC, against Heritage Bank Plc and Secure Electronics Technology Limited.

The funds were discovered, following an intelligence report received by the Commission, and investigations which revealed no owner to the funds.

The persons in whose possession the funds were found did not lay claim to them and surrendered them for forfeiture.

In an affidavit in support of the application, EFCC stated that Heritage Bank did not provide any legitimate explanation for the monies and “consequently returned the said money through 16 separate bank drafts issued in favour of the EFCC Recovered Funds Account.”

Read also:
Justice Obiozor, in his ruling on August 15, 2018, had ordered the interim forfeiture of the monies, which were suspected to be proceeds of unlawful activities, to the Federal Government.

In line with that court order, the EFCC had published the interim forfeiture order in a national newspaper of August 21, 2018 for the correspondents or anyone interested in the money to show cause why the funds should not be permanently forfeited to the Federal Government.


http://worldtopnewsng.com/heritage-bank-to-forfeit-n1-2bn-327000-in-ghost-account-to-nigerian-govt/




Threat To Life: Whistleblower On The Run For Exposing Nigerian Govt Officials, NNPC Staff Who Sold 48 Million Barrels Of Stolen Crude Oil

Facts have emerged on how some Nigerian Government officials and senior Nigerian National Petroleum Corporations staff connived to sell 48 million barrels of Bonny Light crude oil stolen from the country during the first year of President Muhammadu Buhari’s first term in office in 2015.

The stolen crude was moved to China where it was stored in various ports and terminals including Sinochem tanks in Zhoushan bonded area and Vishal star tanks.

Potential buyers were from that point contacted for the stolen product by the Nigerian Government officials including a company that eventually blew the whistle on the monumental fraud.

Realising that the crude was stolen, SAMANO SA DE CV brought to the Nigerian Government’s attention the criminal activity involving the NNPC, according to documents seen by SaharaReporters.



Group Managing Director of the NNPC, Mr Mele Kyari, late Chief of Staff to President Buhari, Abba Kyari, and Mr Umar Mohammed were all promptly notified of the stolen crude in order to take appropriate action.

However, a letter written by the whistleblower to the President was prevented from getting to him by Mohammed.

In October 2015, the stolen crude was moved from China without the knowledge of President Buhari and sold illegally by some government and NNPC officials with the proceeds not remitted to the government’s coffers.

When the whistleblower pushed for its agreed five per cent cut of the sale of the crude for exposing the theft, its officials were harassed and issued death threats.

Several efforts for compensation by the whistleblower continues to be frustrated by government officials, who were part of the illegal deal and economic sabotage.

The whistleblower in a letter by its lawyer, Gboyega Oyewole of Lord and Temple, a United Kingdom-based law firm, dated July 23, 2020 to the NNPC GMD has demanded for the company’s compensation for helping to expose the criminal activity.

The whistleblower policy, an anti-corruption programme launched in 2016 by the Nigerian Government, encourages individuals to report cases of financial mismanagement or stolen funds in return for a share of the recovered item if the information provided turns out to be credible.

The letter reads, “Our client was approached by a group in the Peoples’ Republic of Chinas with the intent to sell 48 million barrels of Bonny Light Crude Oil believed to have been stolen from the Federal Republic of Nigeria and stored in various ports and terminals in China.

http://worldtopnewsng.com/threat-to-life-whistleblower-on-the-run-for-exposing-nigerian-govt-officials-nnpc-staff-who-sold-48-million-barrels-of-stolen-crude-oil/